Car-coupling



l (No Model.)

E. S. GRAVER.

GAR OOUPLING. No. 272,680. Patented Feb. 20, 1883.

BY ./LM/MM/ I ATTORNEYS.

PATENT EETCE,

ERWIN S. GRAVER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,680, dated February20, 1883.

Application letl December 21, 1882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EuWIN S. GRAVER, ofPhiladelphia, in the county ot' Philadelphia and State ot' Pennsylvania,have invented a new and Improved CarCoupling, of which the following isa fnll, clear, and exact description.

My improvement in car-couplings consists, essentially, ot' a loop orU-shaped link pivoted to one draw-bar, in combination with a horn on theother drawbar, with which said link engages by swinging down over thehorn, together with a latch device lor holding up the link whenuncoupling, and a device lor lodging` the link on preparatory tocoupling and throwing it down over the liornand coupling bythe recoilot' the draw-bar when the cars run together, the said improvement lbeinga simple and efticient device that may be used, together with theordinary coupling link and pin, on cars ot' any kind and ofditerentheights, and by which the dangerous practice ot' going between the carsto couple them may be avoided, all as hereinafter fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings. forming part ofthis` specilication, in which similar letters of reference indicatecoriesponding parts in both the ligures.

Figure l is a t'ront elevation of a platformcar with my improvtdcar-coupling applied, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

l use a draw-bar, a, of the common form and arrangement, and having asocket, b, and pin-hole c, for the use of the coininon link and pin whenrequired, and connect the loop or U-shaped link di to it on a raisedportion,

- g, a suitable distance back of the end, by a pivot-bolt, c, passinghorizontally through the two ends ot` the link and the bar, and beingheaded at each end, said link being of suitable length to swing forwardof the eiid of the draw-bar sut'liciently to drop over a lioin,f,projecting up fiom the end of the draw-bar of the car to' be coupled on,each draw-bar being provided with a link and a hoiii, so that when bothlinks are coupled the couplings willbe double.

lo couple the cars self-actingly with this forni ot'coupling, I providea plate, g. on the bed or .platform h of the car, and projecting (Nomodel.)

forward overthe draw-bar in suitable relation to the link to allow it tobe 'swung over and rested against said plate, as indicated by dottedlines of Fig. 2, for setting the link preparatory to coupling, whichplate will thrust the link forward and cause it to t'all down and couplethe horn ot' another car when two cars run together and thedraw-bars areforced back against the bulier-springs To hold the link up sufficientlyfor uncoupling, I arrange a latch,j, on one side ot' the draw-bar, to beswung up and set under a stud, k, ofthe link, as shown by dotted linesiu Fig. 2, to hold the link until the cars are drawn apart, when thelink maybe allowed to swing down and hang` trom the pivot-bolt tillrequired to couple again, and being set up against the plate g for thepui-pose.

I propose to avail myself ot' the plate g to serve as a stop by meansot' a sliouluer, Z, ou it, and a shoulder, m, which the raised portion qot the draw-bar enables inev to provide in suitable relation to theshoulder l for arresting the back-thrust ot' the draw-bar for the pro.tection of the buiierspring from overcom pression.

It will be seen that by the wide space between tlie twol bars ot' thelink, required by the manner of applying it to the dra w-bar, thecoupling has considerable range for lateral deviation ot' the draw-barsfrom the centers, and the links will draw properly in going aroundcurves; but to enable the coupling to connect on any curves, no matterhow short, I propose to arrange the draw-bars to swing laterally, whenrequired, by arranging them in a supporting-hanger, 0, extended, asindicated by the dotted lines p, Fig. 1, and by suitably pivoting themat `the back connection, t, and in such case will employ a pin, s, toconnect them with the plate g when they are notrequired to swing forsuchpurpose. This pin may in such case sustain the draftthrough the mediumot' the plate g,- or, if-desired, the draw-bar or said plate may have aslotted hole for it. The link d will be made thicker and stronger in thebow u, Fig. l, than elsewhere, to resist the tendency of' the strain tobend it thereat.

1t will be seen that by attaching` a chain to the link on the tender andsuitably leading it into the cal) ot' the engine the engineer canshoulder Z of the plate g, attached to the caul nnconple and conple hisengine nt any time .body, substantially as described.

fiom bis place in the cub.

Having thnsdese'ribed my invention. I claim as new and desire tosecureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination of a plate, g, attached to thecar-body, with a link, d, pivored to the draw-bar, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a oar-coupling having a link, d, pivio oted to the draw-bar, asset forth, the shoulder l m on said draw-bar, in combination with the 3.In a car-coupling, the combination, with the drew-ber a, having thepivotvd proppingletvlij, of the link d, pivoted to the draw-bai' andprovided on its under side with the stud l 7c, substantiallyas and forthe purpose set forth.

ERWIN S. GRAVER. Witnesses:

A. G. GRAVER, J. P. SGHELLY.

